A sick day
by cupcake01
Summary: Ezekiel is really sick, but doesn't tell anybody. It is not getting better and taking effect on his work. When he is pushed too far, what can possibly happen? Please review. Now complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Yes, I am back that quickly. I was so motivated after your nice reviews, so I decided to continue writing. As always, I like Ezekiel best, so I will try to write more stories about him, but you can also give me ideas and I could try to give life into the plot.**

 **This story is for** brizzyfics **who requested following:**

'Maybe you could write something where Ezekiel is sick but Jake gets on him about how he's not working hard enough so Ezekiel pushes through it. But then he pushes too far and he gets really really sick and it's bad and Jake feels like a major dickwad'

 **So, here you go! I hope that you will all like it. Please don't forget to review after reading.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything except of the plot.**

 **Remark: English is not my mother language. So again, sorry for all the mistakes that might be in the stories.**

 **And now, have fun with the story.**

As Ezekiel woke up, he knew that this wasn't going to be a good day. His head hurt, his mouth was dry and he had the feeling that in his stomach was driving a roller coaster. In short, he felt miserable.

He wasn't used to getting sick; in fact, he couldn't remember the last time when he was so ill that he wished to stay in bed.

' _Maybe it'll go away_ ' _he_ thought and got up. After having a shower, he dressed up and went downstairs to meet the others.

Jake, Cassandra and Eve already waited for him. He was surprised to find them all gathered; they hadn't had a mission for days, so maybe the book told them something to do?

"Good morning, sleeping beauty" Eve said. They had been waiting for Ezekiel for over half an hour when he finally showed up. But, now that he came nearer to her, she recognized that he was kind of pale, and deep shadows under his eyes made him look nearly like a ghost. She wanted to question him if he was alright, but Jake commented first.

"Really, Jones? You know that you have to be ready for work every morning…." Jake thought that Ezekiel had been out. He seemed to have a hangover, obviously.

Ezekiel waved off. He didn't like it when somebody put him in the center of attention. Especially if he wasn't feeling good. Actually, if Stone thought that he had been out drinking last night, it would be better than having to admit he was sick. At least he could come to the mission with the others.

"Yeah, sorry for that." He just said. "So, do we have a mission, finally?" He still felt the look of the Colonel on him, but he ignored it.

"Yep" Cassandra said and showed him the article. "We have to go to Paris. There is a treasure chest filled with some kind of spell, and we have to get it."

"So, let's go finally" Jake said impatiently. He was very excited to go to Paris – it was one favorite cities in the world. He had even suggested to go without their thief because he wasn't showing up. He was annoyed of him the last time; he never seemed to do a lot; only when his 'thief skills' are questioned. And that was not too often. He decided to make sure that during this mission, Ezekiel Jones would have to his part as well.

"Alright. Jenkins has already opened the door for us" Eve said. "Let's go."

 _In Paris_

Ezekiel thought that his headache couldn't go worse. However, as they started to look for this treasure chest in the Louvre, he threw away this thought and was sure: It _could_ get worse.

The pounding pain behind his left temple was much stronger than in the morning. Also, from time to time a wave of dizziness came up, making his vision blurry. He still decided not to tell anyone. They all had more important things to do.

"Jones, you know the museum better than anybody else. Where shall we look for this chest?" Jake asked, seemingly annoyed. They have been wandering through the corridors, but there was no chest anywhere… and no clues where it could be.

"Uh…" he Ezekiel made. He had to think. "Probably it is in the room where all the new artefacts are stored."

"So much we know already" Jake said harshly. "I mean, where is this damn room?"

The loud tone of Stone's voice wasn't really helping Ezekiel's headache.

"Hey guys, calm down" Eve said as a bunch of tourists were going past them. "Ok, Ezekiel, where could this room be?" She asked as well, but in a lowered and warmer voice.

Ezekiel sighed, but then he remembered. "Downstairs, and not where the tourists are allowed to be. Shouldn't be problem to get in, though. At least not for me." He got that Eve was still a bit worried about him, he tried to cover his sickness. He didn't want to annoy Jake anymore as well, since he already was furious of him for not finding the room first.

"Ok, so let's go there" Cassandra said motivating, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

However, their mission tuned out to be the worst one ever. At least in Ezekiel's eyes. After they had finally found the right corridor, they were standing in front of the room.

"So, open the door for us" Jake said to Ezekiel. He, too, recognized that the younger man was very pale, but he still thought because of his 'hangover'. "That's your work, 'master thief' he added in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah, just a minute." The thief said. He felt tired, concentrating was really hard with the feeling of the pounding pain behind his temples. He was even more miserable than before, and now, additionally to the dizziness, he noticed that his hands were shaking.

The others were waiting impatiently; Cassandra wondered why it was taking so long. Usually, he could open every door within seconds.

And then, just as they had thought he opened the door, a loud alarm tone went off.

As soon as the ringing and very noisy alarm started to make the security paying attention on them, Jake looked at Ezekiel, and he know whose fault it was. Their 'master thief' had managed to trigger off the alarm bell – in the most famous museum of the world!

"I… Sorry, really!" Ezekiel said stressed. He had tried to transform the pin code, but his hands had been shaking so much that he had pushed the wrong number. God, how could this happen? This was all his fault!

"This won't help!" Jake said as Ezekiel finally managed to open the door.

"I'll call Jenkins to open a door back to the library. You guys get the chest and then let's go" Eve said to the three.

Even when it came to grabbing the treasure chest, Ezekiel seemed to have the worst luck ever. He was stressed and everything hurt, but Stone kept on complaining how slowly he was, and in the end it was Cassandra who found the treasure chest.

After that, the security of the museum nearly grabbed him because he was not running fast enough, and they even nearly went through the door with them if Eve and Stone hadn't knocked them out.

It was as if he was cursed. But Ezekiel knew it better. His sick feeling was really bad by now. Actually, it went worse by every minute he was not being in his bed; and Jake's remarks on him that he wasn't doing a good job weren't helping. He had the feeling that they even made his headache worse. At least his screaming was. Maybe he should have said this morning that he was staying at home.

 _Back in the library_

"You had one job to do! And all you did was hounding the security people on us!"

Ezekiel's head had to consist of drilling machines. He couldn't concentrate anymore. All he wanted was to go back to bed and not being in the way of anybody.

"Jake, calm down. Everybody has a bad day…." Cassandra tried to negotiate. She never liked it when the boys were arguing, and Ezekiel wasn't even defensing himself. So somebody else had to do it. Strange enough actually that he didn't say anything against it.

"No! He never does anything. First, he came late, and then he did everything wrong. Plus, this wasn't the first time he had a 'bad day'" Jake responded. He was really furious. Ezekiel always put them in danger and took everything too easily. In fact, Jake thought that Ezekiel was just there to have his fun.

"Jake…." Eve tried, but their thief suddenly interrupted her.

"Just…. Leave me alone!" he raised his voice and run out of the room. He had heard enough. Additionally to Stone's remarks, his head was now killing him and he felt as if he was going to faint by any minute. He didn't want to give him more reasons to hate him.

He rushed into the kitchen, ignoring Eve's calls. He went over to the kitchen. He knew that he has to confront Stone about the said things, but for now, it really didn't matter to him. He just wanted some aspirin, a glass of water and his bed.

 **This was it for today. I hope you all liked it. I already started to write the next chapter, so it shouldn't take too long for a next upload. Stay tuned, and don't forget to leave me a review.**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **Cupcake01**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it.**

 **Cupcake01**

"Do you think that was necessary?" Eve asked, raising her brows. She found it really strange how Ezekiel behaved today, and then he had just rushed out of the room, without leaving a comment. Something was wrong.

"Yes" Stone said, but felt guilty at the same time. However, he would never admit it. He still thought that he was right and that Jones just couldn't stand the pressure.

"And I won't apologize. I mean, he knows that he screwed up today…. And not only today. I just think that he should work just as we do."

And with that, he, too, left the room, ignoring Cassandra's and Eve's glance. He would deal with them afterwards.

 _In the kitchen_

Where was the damn aspirin? He had been looking for it everywhere, but wasn't able to find it. Ok, maybe a glass of water would help, he would ask Jenkins later for some medicine. By now, it even didn't matter to him anymore if the others knew that he was sick. He felt really terrible; and additionally to his headache, his vision started to become blurry. Maybe he had some kind of flu?

As he wanted to grab a glass to fill it with water. However, his hands suddenly started to shake again, but this time so violently that it crashed on the floor and shattered into pieces with a loud noise. _Great_ he thought _now I can add being clumsy to Jake's list why shouldn't be there_.

At the same moment Jake went to the kitchen. He wanted to make a cup of tea, maybe it would calm him down. He actually didn't know why he was so furious about Ezekiel. Maybe it was because he was just… him. It was difficult to explain, but actually, he never understood how their thief could be so convinced about himself and do his work with such an easiness that he, Jake, was nearly jealous. As he made his way to the corridor where the kitchen was, he thought that he might have overreacted earlier; however, he decided that he won't apologize – at least not now. He wasn't the one who made all those mistakes today.

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang. Something must have crashed onto the floor in the kitchen, and, worried that something might have happened, he rushed where the sound had come from.

He was nearly there when he heard a voice cursing. "Damn it!" It was Ezekiel!

Now he was astonished. Cursing like that was really something extraordinary for the thief, and he wanted to know what was causing the noise.

He went in. There he saw Ezekiel leaning against the cupboard, nearly looking as if he was a ghost. The younger man was very pale, sweat pearls were forming on his forehead and as he went a hand through his hair, Jake recognized that his hands were shaking violently. The signs where obvious – why hadn't he seen them before? This was no hangover – their thief was sick.

Ezekiel first didn't recognized that Jake stood at the door frame of the kitchen. He just wanted to clean up, and then lying into his bed. However, he wasn't even sure if he could even make it into his room; he had the feeling as if he was going to faint by any minute; his knees felt shaky and the vision didn't get better. Only when Jake spoke to him, he remarked that the other man was coming into the room.

"Ezekiel? Is everything alright" Jake asked. What a stupid question! Obviously, nothing was alright and Ezekiel looked at him with glassy eyes.

"What do you want?" He asked, trying to hide his trembling voice, but it couldn't fool Jake anymore. How could he have thought that he had just a hangover? Ezekiel must have been sick the whole day!

"Are you here to accuse me of doing not my work again? I really don't need that right now."

"No, I…" Jake said and looked onto the mess on the floor. Ezekiel just wanted to bend over and grab the shattered glass with his hands.

"Wait, you are going to hurt yourself!" He went over to the younger man, but Ezekiel blocked off.

"Leave me alone!" he exclaimed. "I can do that on my own. I don't need your help…I…."

However, in this moment, a wave off dizziness was overwhelming him. He couldn't see anything and lend onto the cupboard so that he won't fall over, but thousands of stars dancing in front of his eyes. What was going on? His legs suddenly gave in and he found himself falling down on the floor.

"Ezekiel!" Jake didn't saw it coming as Ezekiel tumbled onto the floor. He would have caught the thief, but he was too far away. Quickly, he went over to him. God, how could this escalate that quickly? He decided not to lose any minute. Jake put out his mobile phone to call Jenkins.

"Jenkins? Yeah, it's me." Jake said excitedly while feeling the younger man's pulse. He sighed relieved as he felt one, although it was a bit too slow for his taste. "Ezekiel has just fainted in front of me" he described Jenkins. "Pulse seems to be okay, but he is very pale and he has definitely a fever."

Jenkins explained that he would come in any minute. Jake should just make sure that the thief's state wasn't getting worse.

As Jake had felt his forehead, it was really hot. The thief must have been like that since this morning, or even since the day before. The anger that had been cooking in him before was washed away; seeing Ezekiel lying there and not moving at all - he felt that this was not what he had wanted. And he didn't want his colleague to leave. He made an inner note to tell Ezekiel as soon as he would wake up – or, if he wakes up. By now, he didn't even know what kind of sickness Ezekiel had. He just hoped that Jenkins would find a cure and that everything would end well for both of them.

 **That's it for today. I actually planned this to be a oneshot, but I will probably do 3 or 4 chapters all in all. Stay tuned for more.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing**

 **Cupcake01**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there! Next chapter is there. Thank you so much for the nice reviews (and for the ones that will maybe follow). I hope that you all will like the end of the story.**

 **Enjoy reading**

 **Cupcake01**

Jenkins was alone in the room with Ezekiel, examining him to see what he could do for their thief. The others were waiting outside worriedly. Cassandra was listing the symptoms that Ezekiel had been showing and it was very difficult to keep her exciting yet anxious voice quiet. She hated it when there wasn't anything to do. And this time, she wasn't even able to help her friend who was lying with some kind of sickness in his bed. She felt that after everything they had been through together it was just unfair that one of the team was in such a state.

While Eve was wandering around in front of the room, trying not to make the others nervous, she felt that this didn't really work. She thought about how this could have happen; she was the guardian and again, one of her librarians was lying in bed, and they didn't even know what he could have. She should have known that something was wrong; Ezekiel was never late for work and he also never managed to trigger the alarm in a high-security museum. Strange enough that he had just stormed out when Jake didn't stop accusing him instead of replying with a typical Jones-master thief- reply. She sighed and wondered why Jenkins was taking so long.

Jake, however, was the complete difference to Cassandra. After he had called Jenkins, he had hardly said a word. After all, there was nothing much to say; he just felt incredibly guilty. This was all his fault. If he hadn't been so stupid about Ezekiel being late and his 'hangover', this had never happened. But then he thought if Ezekiel would have said anything about his sickness if he had the chance – probably not. Well, he, Jake, wouldn't have said anything, and he knew that Jones was a nearly more stubborn than himself. At least this was something they had in common.

However, as he wanted to continue his thoughts, Jenkins came out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. His look was very gloomy and didn't seem too promising. They all looked up and waited for a word of him

"So, what does he have?" Eve instantly said. They had been waiting for nearly half an hour and now they looked at the caretaker with a mixture of impatience and worry.

Jenkins sighed. "Actually, Mr. Jones has just the flu. However, in combination with his high fever, the mixture was too much for him."

"So he is just sick?" Cassandra asked. She couldn't believe it – was it that simple?

Jenkins nodded. "Yes, Miss Cillian. He must have been sick the whole day, and his illness got worse after Mr. Jones decided not to tell anybody. This is why his fever is really high and if my medicine doesn't work, I fear that the only thing we could do is to put him into hospital."

Jenkins wanted to go, but stopped and turned to the others once again. "Oh, and while I prepare my medicine, you can indeed visit him. But please, only one at a time and try not to upset our thief – if he wakes up."

And with that, the immortal man went away, leaving the other three relieved behind.

"So, he is going to be okay!" Cassandra said, but not too happy. In her head, the words 'if my medicine works' were still left behind. Eve also didn't seem too calmed.

"It shouldn't have been happened at all…. It's all my fault, I should have recognized….." she said, hoping that the others would just agree.

However, Cassandra didn't think so. "We all should have recognized it. I mean, what kind of friends are we, not noticing that a colleague isn't well"

She remembered that once, when she had one of her migraines again, it was Ezekiel who asked for her and cared as she didn't feel that good. She really tried hard that the others won't comment and just leave her alone, but after Ezekiel had made her some mint tea, she really had felt better. She would make sure that something like that would never happen to Ezekiel again.

"Uh… can I go in first?" Jake suddenly said. "I think… I think I have some things to say to him." He preferred to look onto the floor, deciding not to look into the girls' eyes.

"Sure…." Eve said, being able to imagine how he must feel. "Just tell him that we are really sorry."

Jake nodded and opened the door to Ezekiel's room.

 **That's it for today. I'm not quite sure about the ending. What do you think how the ending should be? If you have an idea, just leave me a PM or a review.**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **Cupcake01**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, the last week was a little bit stressful- it was a good week though. I hope you are all great and are looking forward to reading the last chapter.**

 **Cupcake01**

Ezekiel was lying in his bed which wasn't a big surprise. He looked so small and was nearly as pale as the bed sheet that was covering him except of his face. Jake gulped; this wasn't how their thief should be like; he was young and his spirit always seems to consist of endless energy. He sighed. Actually, this was why he was always a little bit jealous of him. Everything Ezekiel did seemed to be working easily. For this reason, Jake was so furious earlier – he wasn't used to Ezekiel being clumsy or even helpless. Until now, Ezekiel actually had hardly made any mistakes. Maybe Eve was right and he had really exaggerated earlier.

"Are you standing there for forever or do you want to come in?" He suddenly heard a rough voice, followed by a harsh cough. Jake startled. He hadn't noticed that the younger man had woken up. Indeed, he now saw him with his eyes barely open looking at him expectantly as the cough finally faded.

"You are awake!" Jake thought that this was probably the most stupid phrase he could have started the conversation with. However, he was really surprised – in a positive way though. After Jenkins examination, he thought that Ezekiel was in a worse state.

"Yep… seems like…. " Ezekiel said but was interrupted by another wave of cough. He got even paler as he had been earlier. Jake reached for the glass of water standing on the small table next to his bed and gave it to him. Ezekiel tried a sip and thankfully, the dryness in his mouth was leaving.

Exhausted, he let himself fall onto the pillow. "It's been a rough day" Ezekiel explained, grinning.

Jake smiled back. This was the old Ezekiel he knew.

"What are you doing here?" Ezekiel suddenly asked after nobody said a word for some seconds. "I mean, after today I'm wondering that you want to be in the same room with me."

Jake sighed. This wasn't how the conversation should have started. However, Ezekiel had every right to be that suspicious after Jake had been that mean to him.

"I wanted to make sure that you are okay…." Jake tried, but Ezekiel interrupted him. "Come on, even if we would be friends, you wouldn't do that." Jake looked up. "And I thought about what you said earlier. Maybe you are right – after today, I should probably just leave the library. It's the best for everybody here."

God, this was all his fault. Now Ezekiel even thought that he wasn't wanted here anymore! Jake really didn't think that this would escalate that quickly.

"No!" exclaimed, a bit too loud. "Sorry… I mean, yeah, we aren't best friends, and I was really a bit furious of how you had acted. But we all didn't know that you were sick. And, you could have said something."

That was true. Why hadn't Ezekiel told the others that he was sick?

Now Ezekiel looked ashamed; Jake was maybe right. He should have told them, then they could have done the mission alone. "Actually, I thought that it would go away. I was never really sick like that before and I thought you wouldn't care anyway."

Ah, that was why. Jake looked at their thief. It was rare that he would admit something about his feelings; nobody of their team liked to talk about such things. Eve was too much of a soldier and he tried to be the 'tough' guy. Even Cassandra wasn't really like an open book to them.

"Look, I… I'm really sorry for what I said earlier" Jake said. "I was… stressed and exaggerated a bit. I think we all could try to take care for each other a bit more." He paused, trying to find good words. "You know, we all were sort of loners before we came into the team. It's difficult to get used that there are others we should care about. And I knew we never got well before… maybe it's because I'm a bit jealous of you."

Ezekiel laughed out. "You? I mean, I know I'm great and all, but I never imagined that you would be jealous of a…. thief like I am."

"It's just… I sometimes wish that I could act as easy as you do. And seeing you in the state like you have been earlier made me… I don't know, maybe I was glad that there was somebody who makes mistakes. We have to do a perfect job, otherwise this whole magic will get us. I just… sometimes it's not easy to look how you do your job without even thinking about consequences."

"I think I know what you mean." Ezekiel felt his headache coming back. Maybe he should go sleeping soon. "This was why I didn't tell you about me being sick. I never had anybody who would care about me, and I thought if I tell you, you wouldn't need me because you'd think I was weak. I would never admit it, but being with you guys is the best job I ever had and I really don't want to leave… but if I'm not wanted, I don't want to be in the way of anybody." He yawned and felt his eyes becoming heavier.

"I think you are still a bit sick." Jake joked. "No, seriously. I would never want you to leave. Sure, we annoy each other like hell sometimes, but this is also why this team is the best one. We are different, and that's good." He stopped. Ezekiel seemed to be more tired, his eyes more glassy. Maybe he should go back to sleep and when he waked up, he would be fit and annoying again.

"I'll go and ask Jenkins for some medicine. We can talk when you are better." Jake felt the thief's forehead. It was still hot, but much better than before.

Ezekiel smiled and opened his eyes once again. "Thanks, Jake. And… I'm really sorry for ruining our mission."

"Come on, forget about it. Everybody has a sick day from time to time" Jake said and went to the door. He turned around once again, but Ezekiel was already sleeping. He smiled as well.

"Get better soon" he whispered and left the room leave him recovering. He would make sure personally that Ezekiel was taking his medicine after waking up.

Their jobs were difficult, but this new friendship will make it definitely easier.

 **The end**

 **Oh well, the ending always gets me. I never know if I find them like really good or the worst paragraph I ever created. So, it's your decision.**

 **Anyways…. I hope that you all liked the story. I just wanted to thank you for reading and reviewing, and if you would leave a review for this last chapter, that would be great.**

 **Also, if you have an idea for a new idea for an Ezekiel story, just let me know by PM or review.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Cupcake01**


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